An Englishman's home may be his castle but the parking space outside his door can be less secure, a High Court case being heard in Chippenham this week is being told.

Edward Owen, who bought the freehold of Devizes Castle two years ago from his cousin Anna Kemp, is being sued by two of his neighbours over pieces of land in the castle grounds.

Mark Lovell, who owns the lease of the South Tower, is maintaining that the crescent-shaped strip of land outside his front door is part of his property for which he paid £140,000.

But shortly after he and his family moved in, he told Judge Weeks QC on Tuesday, he came into conflict with Mrs Kemp who, he said, screamed at him and his wife that they were trespassing by parking their four-wheel-drive vehicle on the disputed land.

On another occasion, he said, Mrs Kemp had driven past in her white BMW, shouted abuse and then reversed her car back towards them.

He said Mrs Kemp's solicitor, Julian Bailey, had visited them and told them to carry on parking because in time Mrs Kemp would mellow.

Mrs Kemp's father, Edward, who flew for the case from Poland, said he had allowed a previous owner of the South Tower, Mrs Friend, to park in the disputed space. But when Mike and Sigourney Richmond-Darby moved in in 1989 and set up a bed and breakfast business, it led to 'an exchange of views or stronger words than that'.

The Richmond-Darbys left in 1994 owing thousands of pounds and the South Tower was repossessed by Barclays Bank. The court heard it was the bank's failure to convey the strip of land that had led to the dispute.

The case continues.